Unlike her mother, Jimmy actually put some self sacrifice and loving effort into helping her. Kim's mom was purely selfish and destructive, only helping Kim when she could brag about it and shame her.
One of the most tragic things in this universe is the fact that her dream of building a team of lawyers who look after the little ones and defend them like millionaires became somewhat true and twisted by Saul Goodman, he became a lawyer who defended little ones (mostly criminals and guilty people) through scams and cons giving them an advantage in legal representation similar to what millionaires have, but in this case he did it for the money while Kim would’ve done it for the people.
Honestly, between the top lawyers for companies like Chevron and the pharmaceutical companies that caused the opioid epidemic, I'd take Saul Goodman in terms of morality.
And they are genuinely awful people he's trying to use scams to get them off the hook. Murderers and the suchlike, people who genuinely belong in prison. He represented Lalo who is a wealthy drug lord, and he helped Walter become rich selling drugs and causing countless deaths. Hardly noble. Meanwhile Howard, Mesa Verde, and Schwikart seem perfectly fine, Chuck came from nothing and he loved the law, yet he was awful to Jimmy. Howard was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, yet he seems like he's genuinely trying to do the right thing. It feels as though the show is subverting our expectations and challenging our notions of who is good and who is evil. You expect the rich characters to be evil and the less well off characters to be pure good, but that's not the case in this show. Tuco, Lalo, Gus, Hector, the neo-Nazis, they are more straightforwardly and obviously completely evil and soulless, though...
Saul has a habit of twisting ideologies in order to "survive", the advice that Mike gives him at the beginning of this video is about choices and consequences, and to be careful of said consequences, but Saul then twists it to be all about GOOD and BAD choices, as if the equation was simpler butchering the original advice. Then there's Kim's dream, of course he could help the little guy, but if you scrap the bottom of the barrel and go for criminal law, most of the time he would need his ability to manipulate the legal system for quick bucks. When it came to family Chuck was a piece of shit, but Saul interprets Chuck trying to get him out of the legal system as a threat to himself, while Chuck only intends to protect Jimmy from the dangers of his own character. This series has a lot of grey situations and it's so good I'm mad it isn't talked about more
mesa verde wanted to kick homeowners out of their houses for some expansion and schwiekart represented the retirement home that was scamming the elderly.
Such an interesting series, Jimmy really didn't even need the money for half the show, there was many times in which he had the money but just did scams/cons for the fun/thrill of it. He very much mirrors Walter White's character in that regard, it starts out of necessity but ends up being a high that they keep wanting more of.
It’s crazy to think about how Kim screwed over Mesa Verda when you look back at the whole series. She lets Jimmy commit a felony to get them back as clients in S2, she starts making them second priority when she takes on probono work, and then the one time she gets involved in a case she doesn’t agree with she has Saul go scorched earth on scamming them. Kevin adored Kim and she was such a terrible employee lol
Kim is such an interesting character because she can never truly call Jimmy out for his actions. She completely enables him, and vice versa. Theres also conflicting sides of caring about morality vs. deriving enjoyment from scamming/conning others. Jimmy introduced her to this "bad choice road," but she chose to engage with it, ending in the final confrontation with Lalo.
I thought that to the characters here, they think they're being supportive of one another rather than enabling. it was like the opposite of what Skyler was like with Walter. Skyler saw Walter as a loser who couldn't support the family, was unsupportive and somewhat domineering. Kim thought Jimmy was smart and creative and always made him feel that way, was always supportive of what he did even when it was a bad idea, and didn't care that he was broke for a while. She's so supportive and positive about him that it leads to some really bad choices and freak accidents.
@@victoriaa9933 Agree- the creation of Kim seems to have been in response to “the Skylar problem.” What would happen if someone offered unlimited support and love no matter what? But Walter would never have married a Kim and Kim most certainly would not have married a Walter.
It's interesting that people like her far more than Skyler White, who was loathed by the fans for NOT enabling Walt. :) Neither character is perfect, but Skyler was berated for her imperfections while Kim was largely excused. You could split hairs by deciding Skyler was more "annoying," but "annoying" is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps "beholders" should look into why they have this double standard.
@@GiftSparks and I loved that this show asked the question of what is support vs what is enabling? Was making the space blanket for Chuck support or enabling? in season 3 when jimmy is disbarred and broke, he's hiding it from Kim even though it's obvious and she knows. But she doesn't let on to him she knows I guess so he doesn't have to feel unhappy or insecure about it. She just plays along with the facade that he's not broke. That one is really complete opposite from Skyler in BB. Enabling or support? I don't think there's even a solid answer. What's defined as support to one person / in one relationship, can be seen as enabling in another which is why this is so great to watch.
@@victoriaa9933 I have a “dull butter knife” approach to what I consider “enabling.” If support is related to an addiction or an addictive behavior, then it is enabling. In the case of Jimmy and Kim I don’t think it falls into that category. Her support to him was to help him reach his personal and business goals. I think that providing emotional and financial support is part of love in general. But Jimmy’s support of Chuck during his illness constituted enabling.
What I loved about Kim is that she was strong and brave, but NOT cartoonishly and obnoxiously fearless. She was a true woman, a true human, fantastically written and portrayed. And yes, I did love the ponytail, it was glorious. I catch myself watching random BCS episodes lately to cope with saying goodbye to this universe. I love Kim and I love that the writers were never afraid to keep the integrity, even when it led them to very difficult decisions.
Walter - Offered a chance at Gray Matter, but turns it down Saul - Offered a chance at Davis & Main, but turns it down Kim - Offered a chance at Schweikart & Cokley, but turns it down
These shows are so great because even rewatching for the 4th time I’m noticing new things. It’s one thing to make a show that’s worth sticking with to the finale. It’s another to make rewatching just as rewarding as watching it for the first time.
Kim was one of the most unique and interesting characters in the show. She and Jimmy were both perfect and bad for each other. They made each other happy, yet enabled the bad qualities of each other, even if the two of them didn’t know it until it was too late.
She is such an ordinary and introverted character that most shows would have overlooked her, but in Better Call Saul they flesh her out so well that in 6 seasons she became my favorite character.
Thanks Kiwi for this analysis. Introducing her character was a stroke of storytelling genius with great depth. We got an entire series to see how she evolved and than sadly ‘devolved’. In her heart deep down inside she was a good person who wanted to help people. Waterworks showed her so wracked with guilt that she truly ‘lost it’. The end scene of the finale was perfection.
What I loved about Kim is I could NEVER predict what she was going to do. Yet each time she surprised me, I realized her actions made total sense for her character. Very good writing and very good acting.
Basically Kim is Better Call Saul's version of Heisenberg with the only difference being Walt dies but accomplished his goal of providing for his family, and Kim loses everything and still lives, and by the end she can finally help out clients when the truth is out
One great detail is Kim's ponytail. The more stressing her situation is, the tighter the twist. When she quits Schweigert her pony tail twist is pretty much gone. What a show!
Yes yes yes to Kim retrospective. This was great but her character is so complex, there’s so much more to cover. I miss this show so much. Thanks for making this video.
There should be an alternative universe series where Jimmy and Kim live a normal rewarding life together. I would probably be ok with small cons and normal life scenarios. Lol
You would do so good on other shows the way you did breaking dad and better call saul was amazing can't wait to see your breakdowns on other popular shows
Really well made video, it put Kim’s journey from going up hill to a sharp turn down a cliff in a clear perspective. It’s scary how similar the connection is with her and Walt, but just goes to show the brilliance of the writers between the two shows. Thanks kiwi!
There's no way she could have reasonably foreseen what would happen with Lalo/Howard, but with any of those wacky schemes there could be unintended consequences. Even the stupid stories in bars. It was a matter of time before something went horribly wrong. They probably did help a lot of people along the way, but once she was no longer a lawyer she wasn't helping anyone anymore. So much of what they did seemed naive and childish. Especially the stories in bars. Those guys would have bought her drinks anyway, there was no need to make stuff up. Either of them could have said no to something at any time, since none of this stuff could have been pulled off without them working together. I think Jimmy eventually felt guilty he taught her to do all this stuff and encouraged it and it eventually blew up her career. Because she wasn't doing any of it before , and wasn't doing it afterwards in Florida either. She could have/should have said no, but when things always worked out fine, that naivety took over.
it's kind of a weird dynamic where jimmy put her on that path and she took it in a direction even jimmy was uncomfortable with, but then it stopped as soon as jimmy was no longer present in her life.
Great video. The crisis of Kim is that you have to deal with the question of “Is it ever appropriate to do the wrong thing if the outcome will be beneficial to the common good?” Jimmy ended up just skipping the second half of this question and fast forwarding to doing the wrong thing if the personal outcome will be beneficial.
@@deanthelemur1716 nothing to do with her being a woman just she was the main instigator of the plan against howard. she knew he would be destroyed, plus she was ok jimmy being a friend of the cartel. she done all the main planning, i thought she'd own the implications caused
she blames herself more than she blames jimmy; when she breaks up with him she's disgusted with herself and the things she has done more than she is angry with jimmy
what was Howard supposed to think Jimmy's end game was here? If he thinks Jimmy is just a con artist after money, it makes no sense he'd want Kim to quit some high paying corporate job with a free luxury car. Howard and Chuck thought Jimmy was somehow duping or victimizing Kim but how? And the audience knows he wasn't.
@@Xehanort10 I don't think it was that simple. she wasn't doing any of that stuff before jimmy teaches her how starting in 201 and encourages her. then she keeps choosing to do it when she could have said no. They were friends for a decade prior to that without doing this stuff. And there's no implication that she was doing anything like that once she was in Florida. So for a period of about 2 years she's choosing to do it, but Howard thinks Jimmy is a con artist after money it would make no sense he wants her to quit a high paying job. I wonder what he did think Jimmy was planning , if he had any solid idea.
@@victoriaa9933 Wasn't her life in Florida kind of a scam? She was hiding who she really was. She probably falsified her resume to to get a job as a copywriter. It wasn't a money-making scam but she was still living a lie of sorts.
What makes the breaking bad universe so good is the complexity of the morality and depth of its character. I've watched way too many of these essay style videos.
Thank you!! Makes my day to see a new video. Really appreciate all you do here; I know how much work goes into these. Can't wait for the Season 5 Tier list!
Is it wrong that I find it funny that the ONE TIME Kiwi doesn’t mention El Camino in the spoiler warning at the beginning, he DOES at least reference it directly in the video (24:27)? Lol. Greta video! Keep ‘em coming…
A lot of people who want to be rescued go on to have dreams of rescuing others...but Kim and Jimmy were mirrors of each other. At their core, they were both horribly insecure, despite what they projected to the outside world. Kim's insecurity made her cling to Jimmy because she saw herself. In the end, she was exactly as self destructive as he was, only able to save herself after hitting bottom.
@@kaneriseley3124 it’s selfish because she doing not as charitable and too do good, but to feel more enlightened for herself because she fighting the big dogs that literally paid for her career. This shown when powerful people like Howard criticize her and jimmy (poor bottoms) even though their criticism are genuine and not at all condescending She has a inferiority complex just like Walter
awesome... and this is just it: I continue to think we don't talk enough about what BCS is saying about what constitutes justice... she's spending all her lawyerly ability helping a small bank become a big bank... what does that have to do with justice? I think it's why characters like chuck and howard have all the problems they do, because the institution of law is not inherently just, and to take it at face value (as they do) undermines more important principles.
I disagree, to the extent that "doomed "puts the blame on Jimmy. Kim prided herself on making her own choices. "I save me." She chose to do what she did with Jimmy. As Howard pointed out in his final moments, this was the life she "chose."
I think Kim started on the bad choice road when she decided to fix her situation at HHM by bringing in a new client, Mesa Verde. At that point, she should have assessed her situation and seen that working for Howard at HHM was not going to advance her career. If she really wanted to be like Atticus Finch, she had other options, like working for the public defender (state or federal), or even what she did at the end--working for legal aid. She never seemed to care much for money so why was she pursing the partner track at a firm that thrived on helping big corporations? Even the name Mesa Verde--green mesa--made it clear it was the wrong choice. Green means money. She was chasing money instead of fulfillment. And Mesa Verde turned out to be the beginning of the end. It led to Jimmy committing a crime to try to save the client, destroying Chuck on the stand (and later, by getting his insurance canceled), scamming the bar to get his license back, and adopting the Saul Goodman identity. And Kim willingly went along for the ride.
Haven't watched the video but if there is one thing that someone can learn through the series is how someone with all the skills and everything can self sabotage themselves out of their dreams. Everytime she got what she wanted she quit, and rather than being punished for it at every turn people admired her for it. Bubble was bound to burst at some point
When they announced a Breaking Bad spinoff, no part of me imagined getting THAT attached to a Better Call Saul original character Edit: The implication here is that, "YYYUP!" I got that attached
You know, Jimmy could always improv his way into getting what he wants with his own words, he must have respected Mike to use his “bad choice road” metaphor.
I like how her going pro bono and abandoning greed working for a bank would be presented positively in any other show, but not in this one. Showing how trying to walk the righteous path can go wrong when you start using "the ends justify the means" to do horrible stuff to achieve noble goals and how they can go horribly wrong.
Imagine if Jimmy got disbarred, but then Kim got to do that big ProBono charity and hired Jimmy, Mike, and Huell as her “investigators”. Can you imagine how happy Jimmy would be doing that?
Great video but I feel like you left out that Kim got her life back on track in the finale. She has plenty of good she can do in the future now that her confidence is back and Jimmy is locked up.
I’m pretty sure kim understood exactly what Jimmy would do for Acker and exactly how that would make her look to Rich, or anybody with a brain and eyes. She wanted out at Shweikert, but she needed a reason beyond just running interference for her shady boyfriend and it seems like that was really most of the reason. Like a far more subtle version of Jimmy forcing his own ouster at D&M, Kim basically forces a situation that allows her to leave with logical cause. She’s now free to fine tune Jimmy’s scams, monitor his relationship to the cartel, and generally protect him from his own worst instincts. All in the name of freeing up more time for the pro bono clients. I feel like most of what Kim did wrong was done to save Jimmy from setting himself on fire. Even as early as the address scandal, we see Kim understanding fully what Jimmy is, and lecturing him not to stop what he’s doing, but to make sure that he did a thorough job of destroying Chuck, and eventually taking a lead roll in the project. All Kim’s bad choices were for love or justice. It makes her a far more compelling villain than antihero. Without her, Jimmy doesn’t have the success or the vision to make it through the formative years.
One of the things that Kim gets right, and wrong, is that you do have to bend on principles sometimes. The sometimes in question is when two valid principles come into conflict, and you can't wholly honor the one without completely neglecting the other. In cases like that, the best you can do is try to honor neither principle perfectly, but instead do a "best fit" where you balance the two. So for example, Kim trying to help out that guy who was going to get kicked off his land, she was caught between her duties to practice law ethically and to help the little guy. Eventually she went all-in on the latter at the direct expense of the former. But at least before she got Jimmy involved, she tried to balance the two, and even got the two to line up neatly for a while.
Ultimately you get to see her true character being a sociopath towards the end. She enjoys psycologically torturing Howard (literally getting off on it), strong arming others than she feels she has the ability to do so (Kettlemens, etc.), and only seems mildly bothered by the collateral damage of people along the way. The only thing that brought her back from that was that she simply didnt have the stomach to see Howard murdered in front her, but was happy to destroy him otherwise. A really great character turn, and someone who we truly see descend into the wrong path. Compared to Jimmy who had always been a con man and never really interested in using his abilities altruistically.
Kim: I like it, I'm good at it Walt: I liked it, I was good at it This might not have been a nod to breaking bad but if it was that's cool, I love all the tiny references to BB in this show!
Great video, love the analysis, but was the quality really bad for anybody else? Even on 720p? I don’t know if it’s my connection or if it’s something to do with the video quality. Either way great vid
Yeah, but she still got away with the Howard Hamlin death and scam even though she was the one who insisted on going thru with it. She got off way too easy.
@@mellowbirddreamer77 oh my god... her husband is boring, how cruel can fate be... someone, save kim from her boring job and her boring husband in her boring home. i can't even begin to understand how much she is suffering, truly...
The judge getting mad at Kim for watching court proceedings was one of the dumbest parts of the show. Court proceedings are open to the public and anyone is free to attend. Really a stretch for the judge to call out Kim for something she has the right to do.
I feel kind of bad for Jimmy. He had already been twice divorced and he saw his brother get divorced. Jimmy probably thought that he had to be exciting and mysterious in order to keep someone as beautiful and intelligent as Kim around.
If Walter had no family he would have been right to deny it for that reason, but he knew he was probably going to die soon and he needed to leave some money for his family, especially his kid. Who cares if Elliot pittied him? The money wasn't for himself. Instead he chose to endanger his family by commiting to a life of crime for the sake of his ego alone.
There were a few ways they could have gone with this show, and I think they picked one of the most boring ones. And I think Kim's real bad choice road was in leaving Jimmy. It is likely what caused his descent into Saul. Though we don't actually get to see it. They just cut to Saul years later. And of course Saul must be created somehow, but I think I would have rather seen Kim say "but so what" to the concept of everyone around them getting hurt. I'd rather see her break bad than turn her back and leave. I think having her take half of the Sandpiper money also would have been a better lead-in to Saul looking to get involved with White and his meth business. I also didn't like how Kim ended up as someone who doesn't make any choices for herself. I can see having a boring job and avoiding the law, but I think she would have at least moved on and tried to still do something meaningful. It seems like she was with "Yep" as just another choice that was made for her and she wasn't actually interested in him. A boring end to a character who was one of the more interesting ones in the franchise.
Kim could've become a con artist like her mom but rejected that life to become a lawyer, Jimmy's nature let her slip into her nurture
That's probably also the reason she came to enjoy Jimmy so much in the first place, he takes her back to a comforting sense of familiarity.
You nailed it
Unlike her mother, Jimmy actually put some self sacrifice and loving effort into helping her. Kim's mom was purely selfish and destructive, only helping Kim when she could brag about it and shame her.
Slip :o
That's the perfect way to put it
One of the most tragic things in this universe is the fact that her dream of building a team of lawyers who look after the little ones and defend them like millionaires became somewhat true and twisted by Saul Goodman, he became a lawyer who defended little ones (mostly criminals and guilty people) through scams and cons giving them an advantage in legal representation similar to what millionaires have, but in this case he did it for the money while Kim would’ve done it for the people.
Honestly, between the top lawyers for companies like Chevron and the pharmaceutical companies that caused the opioid epidemic, I'd take Saul Goodman in terms of morality.
And they are genuinely awful people he's trying to use scams to get them off the hook. Murderers and the suchlike, people who genuinely belong in prison. He represented Lalo who is a wealthy drug lord, and he helped Walter become rich selling drugs and causing countless deaths. Hardly noble. Meanwhile Howard, Mesa Verde, and Schwikart seem perfectly fine, Chuck came from nothing and he loved the law, yet he was awful to Jimmy. Howard was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, yet he seems like he's genuinely trying to do the right thing. It feels as though the show is subverting our expectations and challenging our notions of who is good and who is evil. You expect the rich characters to be evil and the less well off characters to be pure good, but that's not the case in this show. Tuco, Lalo, Gus, Hector, the neo-Nazis, they are more straightforwardly and obviously completely evil and soulless, though...
Saul has a habit of twisting ideologies in order to "survive", the advice that Mike gives him at the beginning of this video is about choices and consequences, and to be careful of said consequences, but Saul then twists it to be all about GOOD and BAD choices, as if the equation was simpler butchering the original advice.
Then there's Kim's dream, of course he could help the little guy, but if you scrap the bottom of the barrel and go for criminal law, most of the time he would need his ability to manipulate the legal system for quick bucks.
When it came to family Chuck was a piece of shit, but Saul interprets Chuck trying to get him out of the legal system as a threat to himself, while Chuck only intends to protect Jimmy from the dangers of his own character. This series has a lot of grey situations and it's so good I'm mad it isn't talked about more
mesa verde wanted to kick homeowners out of their houses for some expansion and schwiekart represented the retirement home that was scamming the elderly.
Such an interesting series, Jimmy really didn't even need the money for half the show, there was many times in which he had the money but just did scams/cons for the fun/thrill of it. He very much mirrors Walter White's character in that regard, it starts out of necessity but ends up being a high that they keep wanting more of.
It’s crazy to think about how Kim screwed over Mesa Verda when you look back at the whole series. She lets Jimmy commit a felony to get them back as clients in S2, she starts making them second priority when she takes on probono work, and then the one time she gets involved in a case she doesn’t agree with she has Saul go scorched earth on scamming them. Kevin adored Kim and she was such a terrible employee lol
On the one hand, fuck big banks. On the other...poor Paige and Kevin really did like Kim lmao
19:56 Them having sex while listening to Howard sounding paranoid about the fake judge pictures was sick.
It's a sick joke!
The chicanery!
He orchestrated it!
@@shiptj01 Jimmy.
Kim is such an interesting character because she can never truly call Jimmy out for his actions. She completely enables him, and vice versa. Theres also conflicting sides of caring about morality vs. deriving enjoyment from scamming/conning others. Jimmy introduced her to this "bad choice road," but she chose to engage with it, ending in the final confrontation with Lalo.
I thought that to the characters here, they think they're being supportive of one another rather than enabling. it was like the opposite of what Skyler was like with Walter. Skyler saw Walter as a loser who couldn't support the family, was unsupportive and somewhat domineering. Kim thought Jimmy was smart and creative and always made him feel that way, was always supportive of what he did even when it was a bad idea, and didn't care that he was broke for a while. She's so supportive and positive about him that it leads to some really bad choices and freak accidents.
@@victoriaa9933 Agree- the creation of Kim seems to have been in response to “the Skylar problem.” What would happen if someone offered unlimited support and love no matter what? But Walter would never have married a Kim and Kim most certainly would not have married a Walter.
It's interesting that people like her far more than Skyler White, who was loathed by the fans for NOT enabling Walt. :) Neither character is perfect, but Skyler was berated for her imperfections while Kim was largely excused. You could split hairs by deciding Skyler was more "annoying," but "annoying" is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps "beholders" should look into why they have this double standard.
@@GiftSparks and I loved that this show asked the question of what is support vs what is enabling? Was making the space blanket for Chuck support or enabling?
in season 3 when jimmy is disbarred and broke, he's hiding it from Kim even though it's obvious and she knows. But she doesn't let on to him she knows I guess so he doesn't have to feel unhappy or insecure about it. She just plays along with the facade that he's not broke. That one is really complete opposite from Skyler in BB. Enabling or support? I don't think there's even a solid answer. What's defined as support to one person / in one relationship, can be seen as enabling in another which is why this is so great to watch.
@@victoriaa9933 I have a “dull butter knife” approach to what I consider “enabling.” If support is related to an addiction or an addictive behavior, then it is enabling. In the case of Jimmy and Kim I don’t think it falls into that category. Her support to him was to help him reach his personal and business goals. I think that providing emotional and financial support is part of love in general. But Jimmy’s support of Chuck during his illness constituted enabling.
Babe wake up kiwi just dropped a new video
My bad I slept in for 6 days what's up
What I loved about Kim is that she was strong and brave, but NOT cartoonishly and obnoxiously fearless. She was a true woman, a true human, fantastically written and portrayed. And yes, I did love the ponytail, it was glorious.
I catch myself watching random BCS episodes lately to cope with saying goodbye to this universe. I love Kim and I love that the writers were never afraid to keep the integrity, even when it led them to very difficult decisions.
Same, I watched Coushatta last week which felt like a nostalgic masterpiece even though I first watched that episode only two years ago 😆
I still prefer twerking She-Hulk 🤣
@@fletcherhamilton3177 “Best legal mind I ever knew.”
Walter - Offered a chance at Gray Matter, but turns it down
Saul - Offered a chance at Davis & Main, but turns it down
Kim - Offered a chance at Schweikart & Cokley, but turns it down
Kim was sexually excited by these cons. We typically found them in throws of passion after each one.
Freud is going to have a field day with this one
Same as Walter. "Breaking bad" is their kink.
These shows are so great because even rewatching for the 4th time I’m noticing new things. It’s one thing to make a show that’s worth sticking with to the finale. It’s another to make rewatching just as rewarding as watching it for the first time.
Kim: I like it, I’m good at it
Me: ~war flashbacks~
Kim was one of the most unique and interesting characters in the show. She and Jimmy were both perfect and bad for each other. They made each other happy, yet enabled the bad qualities of each other, even if the two of them didn’t know it until it was too late.
She is such an ordinary and introverted character that most shows would have overlooked her, but in Better Call Saul they flesh her out so well that in 6 seasons she became my favorite character.
Thanks Kiwi for this analysis. Introducing her character was a stroke of storytelling genius with great depth. We got an entire series to see how she evolved and than sadly ‘devolved’. In her heart deep down inside she was a good person who wanted to help people.
Waterworks showed her so wracked with guilt that she truly ‘lost it’. The end scene of the finale was perfection.
What I loved about Kim is I could NEVER predict what she was going to do. Yet each time she surprised me, I realized her actions made total sense for her character. Very good writing and very good acting.
she is a woman after all. you can never predict them.
@@danielpin7472 what do you mean
@@danielpin7472 why?
Can’t wait for season 5&6 tierlist kiwi!
I still can't get over the fact how much the actress playing Kim's mum and Rhea Seehorn look alike.
I just had to look that up, wow,I thought that was Rhea!!
Aaand the way she speaks too! Remarkable actress!
That Mesa Verde video that Jimmy put together was one of the funniest moments in the entire series.
"Mr "beep" was standing there with his pants down. Bare genitals."
"YUP."
@@Xehanort10 🤣
@@Xehanort10 YUP!
Basically Kim is Better Call Saul's version of Heisenberg with the only difference being Walt dies but accomplished his goal of providing for his family, and Kim loses everything and still lives, and by the end she can finally help out clients when the truth is out
Kiwi!!
So glad you're still making BCS videos. I don't want it to ever die. Still looking forward to your season 5 and 6 tier lists
#Bagmansweep SS tier
@@benro6564 not sure what that means...
@@grateful86 it’s like “tip top tier”
It means SchutzStaffel tier.
Yeah, me too. I like the tier lists, even if I don't agree with all the rankings. 👍
Kim Wexler really was the best surprise this show had to offer. Her and Lalo of course.
I love Lalo. Don't forget Nacho Saul talks about them in Breaking Bad.
Nacho too
That scene where Kim said it's wexlering time and wexlered all the place was a masterpiece vravo bince
One great detail is Kim's ponytail. The more stressing her situation is, the tighter the twist. When she quits Schweigert her pony tail twist is pretty much gone. What a show!
Yes yes yes to Kim retrospective. This was great but her character is so complex, there’s so much more to cover. I miss this show so much. Thanks for making this video.
There should be an alternative universe series where Jimmy and Kim live a normal rewarding life together. I would probably be ok with small cons and normal life scenarios. Lol
You would do so good on other shows the way you did breaking dad and better call saul was amazing can't wait to see your breakdowns on other popular shows
Really well made video, it put Kim’s journey from going up hill to a sharp turn down a cliff in a clear perspective. It’s scary how similar the connection is with her and Walt, but just goes to show the brilliance of the writers between the two shows. Thanks kiwi!
Thanks!
We love some Kiwi.
Thank you so much :)
There's no way she could have reasonably foreseen what would happen with Lalo/Howard, but with any of those wacky schemes there could be unintended consequences. Even the stupid stories in bars. It was a matter of time before something went horribly wrong. They probably did help a lot of people along the way, but once she was no longer a lawyer she wasn't helping anyone anymore. So much of what they did seemed naive and childish. Especially the stories in bars. Those guys would have bought her drinks anyway, there was no need to make stuff up. Either of them could have said no to something at any time, since none of this stuff could have been pulled off without them working together. I think Jimmy eventually felt guilty he taught her to do all this stuff and encouraged it and it eventually blew up her career. Because she wasn't doing any of it before , and wasn't doing it afterwards in Florida either. She could have/should have said no, but when things always worked out fine, that naivety took over.
it's kind of a weird dynamic where jimmy put her on that path and she took it in a direction even jimmy was uncomfortable with, but then it stopped as soon as jimmy was no longer present in her life.
Folie á deux, almost.
Kim chose the literal bad choice road
Great video. The crisis of Kim is that you have to deal with the question of “Is it ever appropriate to do the wrong thing if the outcome will be beneficial to the common good?” Jimmy ended up just skipping the second half of this question and fast forwarding to doing the wrong thing if the personal outcome will be beneficial.
*Howard gets shot in the head*
Kim: Career setback
Love that editing.
*odd how kim can blame jimmy with it being her idea and direction*
ur surprised woman don’t take accountability?
@@deanthelemur1716 uncalled for
@@deanthelemur1716 nothing to do with her being a woman just she was the main instigator of the plan against howard.
she knew he would be destroyed, plus she was ok jimmy being a friend of the cartel.
she done all the main planning, i thought she'd own the implications caused
she blames herself more than she blames jimmy; when she breaks up with him she's disgusted with herself and the things she has done more than she is angry with jimmy
@@dreammachine5435 Yep when Lalo blowing out Howard brains is her wake up call and she has to cover it up as a suicide to CYA.
Tears in my eyes looking at this notification 😢 ❤️ thanks kiwi
I had a great time with your channel homie, hopefully there’s another thing we have an interest in because I love how you break down your videos! 😁
Kim was mainly 2 things: ambitious and self destructive. She would strive to get ahead and then sabatoge herself. Over and over.
12:58 Poor Howard had no idea what he'd set off by implying Jimmy made Kim quit Schweikart and Cokely.
what was Howard supposed to think Jimmy's end game was here? If he thinks Jimmy is just a con artist after money, it makes no sense he'd want Kim to quit some high paying corporate job with a free luxury car. Howard and Chuck thought Jimmy was somehow duping or victimizing Kim but how? And the audience knows he wasn't.
@@victoriaa9933 Howard and Chuck were convinced Kim was a good person corrupted into being a con artist by Jimmy when she was as shady as him.
@@Xehanort10 I don't think it was that simple. she wasn't doing any of that stuff before jimmy teaches her how starting in 201 and encourages her. then she keeps choosing to do it when she could have said no. They were friends for a decade prior to that without doing this stuff. And there's no implication that she was doing anything like that once she was in Florida. So for a period of about 2 years she's choosing to do it, but Howard thinks Jimmy is a con artist after money it would make no sense he wants her to quit a high paying job. I wonder what he did think Jimmy was planning , if he had any solid idea.
@@victoriaa9933 Wasn't her life in Florida kind of a scam? She was hiding who she really was. She probably falsified her resume to to get a job as a copywriter. It wasn't a money-making scam but she was still living a lie of sorts.
I really like the opener for this! Explaining through what the series showed us
What makes the breaking bad universe so good is the complexity of the morality and depth of its character. I've watched way too many of these essay style videos.
Thank you!! Makes my day to see a new video. Really appreciate all you do here; I know how much work goes into these. Can't wait for the Season 5 Tier list!
Is it wrong that I find it funny that the ONE TIME Kiwi doesn’t mention El Camino in the spoiler warning at the beginning, he DOES at least reference it directly in the video (24:27)? Lol.
Greta video! Keep ‘em coming…
Hope you keep taking looks at the many aspects of BCS and BB. The material is so deep there is a lot to explore
This video was so thorough and you really explained everything perfectly about Kim
Dude. Excellent analysis. This show was so good
Great video. Well done as always Kiwi!
A lot of people who want to be rescued go on to have dreams of rescuing others...but Kim and Jimmy were mirrors of each other. At their core, they were both horribly insecure, despite what they projected to the outside world. Kim's insecurity made her cling to Jimmy because she saw herself. In the end, she was exactly as self destructive as he was, only able to save herself after hitting bottom.
Definitely would like to watch a full retrospective about her!
Bottom line, Kim was not a good person. Everything was for her, no matter. Even the pro bono work was selfish because of how it made her feel.
Is doing good deeds because they make you feel good immoral?
@@kaneriseley3124 it’s selfish because she doing not as charitable and too do good, but to feel more enlightened for herself because she fighting the big dogs that literally paid for her career. This shown when powerful people like Howard criticize her and jimmy (poor bottoms) even though their criticism are genuine and not at all condescending
She has a inferiority complex just like Walter
awesome... and this is just it: I continue to think we don't talk enough about what BCS is saying about what constitutes justice... she's spending all her lawyerly ability helping a small bank become a big bank... what does that have to do with justice? I think it's why characters like chuck and howard have all the problems they do, because the institution of law is not inherently just, and to take it at face value (as they do) undermines more important principles.
Kiwi, I LOVE your videos! Been missing the BCS ones 😭 thank you for this.
Another excellent video
She was doomed from the minute she hooked up with Jimmy.
I disagree, to the extent that "doomed "puts the blame on Jimmy. Kim prided herself on making her own choices. "I save me." She chose to do what she did with Jimmy. As Howard pointed out in his final moments, this was the life she "chose."
23:30 In the BB world Holly's 13 now and probably asked Skyler and Jr what Walt was like after which an uncomfortable silence probably followed.
I like Breaking Bad overall more than Better Call Saul, but Kim is my favorite character from either show fr
I think Kim started on the bad choice road when she decided to fix her situation at HHM by bringing in a new client, Mesa Verde. At that point, she should have assessed her situation and seen that working for Howard at HHM was not going to advance her career. If she really wanted to be like Atticus Finch, she had other options, like working for the public defender (state or federal), or even what she did at the end--working for legal aid. She never seemed to care much for money so why was she pursing the partner track at a firm that thrived on helping big corporations? Even the name Mesa Verde--green mesa--made it clear it was the wrong choice. Green means money. She was chasing money instead of fulfillment. And Mesa Verde turned out to be the beginning of the end. It led to Jimmy committing a crime to try to save the client, destroying Chuck on the stand (and later, by getting his insurance canceled), scamming the bar to get his license back, and adopting the Saul Goodman identity. And Kim willingly went along for the ride.
Well done, Kiwi!
you should do a tier list of all of better call saul's montage sequences
Haven't watched the video but if there is one thing that someone can learn through the series is how someone with all the skills and everything can self sabotage themselves out of their dreams. Everytime she got what she wanted she quit, and rather than being punished for it at every turn people admired her for it. Bubble was bound to burst at some point
When they announced a Breaking Bad spinoff, no part of me imagined getting THAT attached to a Better Call Saul original character
Edit: The implication here is that, "YYYUP!" I got that attached
Not only Kim, but Howard, Chuck, Nacho, Lalo. All great original characters. And further following Gus and Mike
You know, Jimmy could always improv his way into getting what he wants with his own words, he must have respected Mike to use his “bad choice road” metaphor.
11:14 oh my god i just realized he says "yup" the same way kim's new husband in florida does.
Excellent summation.
I forget, why did they go through with the Howard-con when Kim was going to get that fellowship or whatever from the Foundation?
"We're talking a Career set back here". Idk if Howard is meeting people like Lalo, hes going places man
Kim turned off of bad choice road. I didn't think it could be done.
These shows have taught me that pride is a very dangerous thing.
I like how her going pro bono and abandoning greed working for a bank would be presented positively in any other show, but not in this one. Showing how trying to walk the righteous path can go wrong when you start using "the ends justify the means" to do horrible stuff to achieve noble goals and how they can go horribly wrong.
Imagine if Jimmy got disbarred, but then Kim got to do that big ProBono charity and hired Jimmy, Mike, and Huell as her “investigators”. Can you imagine how happy Jimmy would be doing that?
It would've been so cool to see her go through with the pro bono career, but damn.
Great video but I feel like you left out that Kim got her life back on track in the finale. She has plenty of good she can do in the future now that her confidence is back and Jimmy is locked up.
Kim is young and smart I wouldn’t worry about her, She has a future still unlike many others in that universe
Glad to see more Kiwi after the show has concluded. There's still plenty to talk about.
I am re-watching Breaking Bad and you see many bad choice roads. Kinda interesting they put that line in there, makes up BCS and BB.
I’m pretty sure kim understood exactly what Jimmy would do for Acker and exactly how that would make her look to Rich, or anybody with a brain and eyes. She wanted out at Shweikert, but she needed a reason beyond just running interference for her shady boyfriend and it seems like that was really most of the reason. Like a far more subtle version of Jimmy forcing his own ouster at D&M, Kim basically forces a situation that allows her to leave with logical cause. She’s now free to fine tune Jimmy’s scams, monitor his relationship to the cartel, and generally protect him from his own worst instincts. All in the name of freeing up more time for the pro bono clients. I feel like most of what Kim did wrong was done to save Jimmy from setting himself on fire. Even as early as the address scandal, we see Kim understanding fully what Jimmy is, and lecturing him not to stop what he’s doing, but to make sure that he did a thorough job of destroying Chuck, and eventually taking a lead roll in the project. All Kim’s bad choices were for love or justice. It makes her a far more compelling villain than antihero. Without her, Jimmy doesn’t have the success or the vision to make it through the formative years.
One of the things that Kim gets right, and wrong, is that you do have to bend on principles sometimes. The sometimes in question is when two valid principles come into conflict, and you can't wholly honor the one without completely neglecting the other. In cases like that, the best you can do is try to honor neither principle perfectly, but instead do a "best fit" where you balance the two. So for example, Kim trying to help out that guy who was going to get kicked off his land, she was caught between her duties to practice law ethically and to help the little guy. Eventually she went all-in on the latter at the direct expense of the former. But at least before she got Jimmy involved, she tried to balance the two, and even got the two to line up neatly for a while.
The ending was perfect but I lowkey wish we couldve had a Kim sequel series
me too!
Dude I would watch the hell out of a Kim sequel series
yes, please make the whole vido about her c:
6:52 Her love of cons kept escalating and corrupted her just like Jimmy.
Ultimately you get to see her true character being a sociopath towards the end. She enjoys psycologically torturing Howard (literally getting off on it), strong arming others than she feels she has the ability to do so (Kettlemens, etc.), and only seems mildly bothered by the collateral damage of people along the way. The only thing that brought her back from that was that she simply didnt have the stomach to see Howard murdered in front her, but was happy to destroy him otherwise. A really great character turn, and someone who we truly see descend into the wrong path. Compared to Jimmy who had always been a con man and never really interested in using his abilities altruistically.
Kim: I like it, I'm good at it
Walt: I liked it, I was good at it
This might not have been a nod to breaking bad but if it was that's cool, I love all the tiny references to BB in this show!
I wish you do an analysis on house md and other shows as well
How are your vids always that good
Great video, love the analysis, but was the quality really bad for anybody else? Even on 720p? I don’t know if it’s my connection or if it’s something to do with the video quality. Either way great vid
Yeah, but she still got away with the Howard Hamlin death and scam even though she was the one who insisted on going thru with it. She got off way too easy.
Did she? Her new husband is boring. Her new friends are boring. She's way over qualified for her sprinkler job.
@@mellowbirddreamer77 a boring life of her own doing is not punishment. She should be sued or in jail.
Did you watch that sex scene? "Yup, yup, yup." Kim has suffered enough lol
@@mellowbirddreamer77 oh my god... her husband is boring, how cruel can fate be... someone, save kim from her boring job and her boring husband in her boring home. i can't even begin to understand how much she is suffering, truly...
@@frankpalancio8471 Did you not watch the show? She is going to be sued for all she has, and she'll never be able to repay it either.
The judge getting mad at Kim for watching court proceedings was one of the dumbest parts of the show. Court proceedings are open to the public and anyone is free to attend. Really a stretch for the judge to call out Kim for something she has the right to do.
I feel kind of bad for Jimmy. He had already been twice divorced and he saw his brother get divorced. Jimmy probably thought that he had to be exciting and mysterious in order to keep someone as beautiful and intelligent as Kim around.
Yes bro thank you
nailed it
Kim and Walter made the choices they made for exactly the same reason.
If they made good choices - it wouldn't have made good entertainment.
.
9:00 is that a 2022 reference?
kiwi. ily
Couldn’t she still do the Pro Bono work eventually? I think she just stopped her dreams because she wanted to.
She was the backbone of better call saul
BAYGmen for life
So is the very very end of the BB/BCS Universe?
4:00 “I like it. I’m good at it”…. i’m pretty sure Mr. White said something very similar
Can you make a video on the unanswered questions from the show? Like Gus’ past, which attorney did Saul ask Francesca to meet, etc.
Of course, Kim and Jimmy both ruined things for themselves because they were broken people.
I have an Idea for a kim sequel series in which she becomes the new Kingpin of the Juarez cartel after Don Eladio dies 😂
W.W. was offered the job by elliot bcos he pittied him, he looked down on him. How could he accept it. Thats an error on your thought process
If Walter had no family he would have been right to deny it for that reason, but he knew he was probably going to die soon and he needed to leave some money for his family, especially his kid. Who cares if Elliot pittied him? The money wasn't for himself. Instead he chose to endanger his family by commiting to a life of crime for the sake of his ego alone.
There were a few ways they could have gone with this show, and I think they picked one of the most boring ones. And I think Kim's real bad choice road was in leaving Jimmy. It is likely what caused his descent into Saul. Though we don't actually get to see it. They just cut to Saul years later. And of course Saul must be created somehow, but I think I would have rather seen Kim say "but so what" to the concept of everyone around them getting hurt. I'd rather see her break bad than turn her back and leave. I think having her take half of the Sandpiper money also would have been a better lead-in to Saul looking to get involved with White and his meth business. I also didn't like how Kim ended up as someone who doesn't make any choices for herself. I can see having a boring job and avoiding the law, but I think she would have at least moved on and tried to still do something meaningful. It seems like she was with "Yep" as just another choice that was made for her and she wasn't actually interested in him. A boring end to a character who was one of the more interesting ones in the franchise.